The best Christmas ever!

My wife went to the local library and brought home "The best Christmas Pageant Ever" by Barbara Robinson. This is a very funny and touching story. When my wife read it, the kids loved it, and we parents did too. This is a great story about some kids from who are from the wrong side of the tracks who get into (and take over) Christmas play unexpectedly. This story helps us focus on the story of Christmas in a different way. It helps us to view these "bad" kids with better perspective and puts a mirror to some of us "dignified and respectable" church goers. This is fun all the way through. I think I may be buying a copy to be read for many Christmas' to come.


Here is a review from someone on Amazon.

Here's a simple, enchanting tale. It's warm and funny and thoroughly unpredictable. It's published in a short and skinny book in large type and, assuming you can tear yourself away from the story, it can be read in small spurts.

The Herdmans are absolutely and without question the worst kids "in the entire history of the world." They are guilty of every unmentionable childhood crime and have thought of more than a few original ones. When they take over the church Christmas pageant (although none of them has ever attended church, much less heard the Christmas story before), the first Christmas becomes new and real in some pretty surprising ways.

Never mind that the publishers call this a children's story. It isn't. The vision it has to offer is hilarious yet deeply touching in a profound yet innocent way.

Stock up on copies for Christmas gifts to teachers and friends. I'd give one to the friend who wails that Christmas has become too commercial or to the harried mother of a lively brood or to someone who dreads the holiday. And keep one for yourself because it's almost as much fun each time you read it.

5 yr. old harassment cheapens crime

The local paper published an article this morning about a 5 year old boy who was accused of sexual harassment for pinching a girls butt and that will stay on his record until middle school.

Charles Vallance, the boy's father, said he was unable to explain to his son what he had done.

"He knows nothing about sex," Vallance said. "There's no way to explain what he's been written up for. He knows it as playing around. He doesn't know it as anything sexual at all."

The incident was described as "sexual harassment" on the school form.

School officials consider a student's age and the specific action when determining what administrative action to take, Mowen said.

Lincolnshire Principal Darlene Teach and Mowen said they were unable to discuss he incident involving the Lincolnshire student.

Teach said any student, regardless of grade level, can be cited for sexual harassment.

"Anytime a student touches another student inappropriately, it could be sexual harassment," Teach said.

I am willing to bet that Miss Teach would not have applied the "sexual harassment" mark if the boy would have pinched another boy. Would she have marked it has harassment if it was a girl doing it to a boy?

This is a much bigger issue than this isolated incident. The article goes on to mention a per-K boy who was suspended in Texas because he hugged a teachers assistant. There are numerous other incidents throughout the country that have little boys being accused of "sexual harassment" when they have no idea what the heck you are talking about.

This completely cheapens the real harassment cases. It is almost equating a 5 year old pinching a girls butt with a 25 years old male (ed...aren't the only harassers male?) who really harasses someone? Or a kid who brings in fingernail clippers with a 17 year old who brings a machete into the classroom?

I can't wait to see the letters to the editors on this and the follow up articles that will be required to come.

Ayman Christmas Wish

Scrappleface gives us a very good translation of Ayman al-Zawahiri's (al Qaeda’s second-in-command) Christmas Video.
If it was only true.

New slogan to stop the N word

Cox and Forkum chimes in on the N word issue over the past two weeks. They reference this to the city employee that used to big of a word for a hold-over from the Marion"the B**** set me up" Barry days.


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wizbang....your lock is worthless

Over at Wizbang, Nearly every lock you have now is worthless

...well at least most.

A Wii little adventure with Zelda

If you have played zelda...enjoy. If not....you can still injoy this :-)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tQ7Wof6QvM